Business Mar 28, 2021
As pandemic bites, Filipino in Japan forms labor union for overseas workers
Foreign workers have been one of the demographic groups most affected by the economic downturn due to the coronavirus.
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Jan 24, 2021
Japan's Filipino community puts down roots and moves past its hostess origins
by Donican Lam
A minority community made up largely of women, those who have come to Japan from the Philippines have often opted to settle down here for the long term.
National / Social Issues | Regional voices: Chubu Nov 20, 2020
Vulnerable foreign workers in Mie suffer as firms face downturn
“My daughter and son lost their jobs at the same time, and we are at loss as to what to do next,” said Raquel Garcia, 45, who worked at the Mie factory for nine years.
National Mar 13, 2020
Aichi police launch probe into man who wanted to 'spread' virus
Police in central Japan said Friday they have launched a probe into a man who was infected with the novel coronavirus on suspicion of interfering with business activities, after he went to local eateries expressing his desire to "spread the virus." The investigation came a ...
National / Crime & Legal Jan 20, 2020
A video link system between two different courts was used for interpretation for the first time in Japan on Monday, to hand down rulings to foreign defendants, in an effort to compensate as the number of court interpreters shrinks. The Yamagata District Court gave suspended ...
National Nov 5, 2019
Filipino worker says Yokohama legal firm won't return her passport after she quit
It is illegal for employers to keep passports of foreign nationals who live in Japan as technical trainees, but there are no penal regulations for other foreign workers.
National Jun 25, 2019
Filipino worker with new visa category reflects on opportunities and challenges of living in Japan
Overseas workers in April took the first-ever exam for the newly introduced Specified Skilled Worker visa category. One of them — aspiring hotel worker Magil Farah Piastro, a Filipino woman who took the written and practical exam in Nagoya — said, “I want to work ...
National | FINDING COMMON GROUND Jan 3, 2018
Filipinos and Nepalese face challenges in Japan even as their communities grow
by Tomohiro Osaki and May Masangkay
While Japan tends to be uneasy about immigration, it is simultaneously host to many non-Japanese people working hard to make lives for themselves, including sizable communities from the Philippines and Nepal.
National / Science & Health Mar 27, 2015
78 Indonesians and Filipinos pass caregiver certification exam
A total of 78 people from the Philippines and Indonesia have passed the caregiver certification exam for fiscal 2014, the welfare ministry said Thursday. Japan is trying to get more foreign workers to work in the nursing-care industry to solve a labor shortage being caused ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Feb 17, 2014
Filipino academic community in Japan unites to aid typhoon-hit homeland
by Jason Bartashius
Reggy Figer saw the news. A rapidly intensifying typhoon was heading towards his family in Tacloban. Concerned and nearly 3,000 km away in Nagoya, Figer sent a text message to his sister, Aileen Rose Figer-Peru, asking her to go to his parents' home. The next ...